No Fare Hike In NJ Transit’s 2023 Budget; Here’s What It Does Include

NEW JERSEY — There won’t be a fare hike for NJ Transit passengers as part of the agency’s latest budget. But there will be funds for a wave of new hires, vehicle purchases and improvement projects, administrators announced Wednesday evening.

The spending plan includes money for more bus, rail, light rail, administrative and police staff. It also has funds for several capital projects, according to the board, which adopted a $2.75 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2023.

According to NJ Transit, only about 26 percent of the revenue in the FY 2023 operating budget comes from passenger fares. The remaining amount comes from dedicated funding from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which is $721 million in FY23, in addition to federal COVID-19 relief money and a combination of “commercial revenue and state and federal resources.”

“This operating budget will support continued system improvements while keeping fares stable,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, who also serves as NJ Transit Board Chair.

Where is the money going? According to NJ Transit:

“Approximately 61 percent of the operating budget is dedicated to costs associated with labor and fringe benefits. Other significant expenses include purchased transportation, which represents 10 percent of total operating expenses. Expenses including materials, fuel and power, utilities, and outside services represent the remaining 29 percent of the total operating expenses. The budget also allows for the expansion of personnel in key areas within bus, rail, light rail, police operations and strategic administrative support services.”

NJ Transit spokespeople said other budget highlights include:

• "The FY 2023 budget includes $10.1 million for additional operational staffing in Rail Infrastructure / Engineering, Mechanical, and Transportation departments. In addition, $1 million is included for additional police positions to increase police visibility on all modes. The budget also includes funding for increased Light Rail vehicle maintenance and additional Office of System Safety positions including safety training, COVID-19 response, community outreach, accident/incident investigations."
• "The FY 23 budget will fully fund 129 Bus positions for service enhancements. It will support the redesign of the Newark Bus System and Newark Micro-Transit initiative and the assumption of contracted bus routes."
• "The FY 23 budget will include enhanced recruitment for the HR Department, employee engagement, and candidate experience along with additional Procurement positions."

WHAT’S COMING DOWN THE TRACKS?

The board also approved $2.64 billion in capital investments as part of the 2023 budget. It represents an increase of $1.04 billion above last year’s approved amount of $1.59 billion.

According to NJ Transit, the extra money comes from several new sources: $814 million from the New Jersey Debt Defeasance and Prevention Fund, $191 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds and $40 million from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund. Outside of this additional funding, the base plan for capital investments is supported by $760 million from the state Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), $600 million from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), $100 million from the FTA CIG program, $75 million from Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Here are some capital improvements included in the latest budget, officials said:

STATION UPGRADES – “The capital budget includes approximately $814 million from the Debt Defeasance and Prevention Fund to be invested in upgrades to major terminals and public facilities and rail station modernization including $191 million for Newark Penn Station, $176 million for Hoboken Terminal, $250 million for Walter Rand Transportation Center, $48 million for Bloomfield Station, $33 million for Brick Church Station, $49 million for New Brunswick Station and $27 million for Roselle Park Station. The budget also directs $40 million for the Northern Maintenance of Way (MOW) Facility in Clifton.”

INFRASTRUCTURE – “The Capital Plan continues to invest in infrastructure, which includes a funding increase of $191 million from the Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act for projects including the agency-wide state of good repair program, the midlife overhaul of the River LINE fleet, as well as rail infrastructure & facilities projects. It also includes design projects for critical future investments including the design for Northern Bus Garage and NJ Transit’s Bus Garage Modernization Program as well as key early construction activities for HBLR Route 440 expansion.”

NEW TECHNOLOGY – “The FY23 Capital investments also include a $40 million funding increase for customer facing technologies including Bus farebox replacement and modernization and Light Rail and Rail faregate replacement and modernization.”

NJ Transit said the 2023 budget is an update to its five-year capital plan, which seeks to “prioritize investments in infrastructure to maintain an overall state-of-good-repair, enhance reliability, safety, and resiliency as well as improve the overall customer experience on the system.”

The plan contains two sets of projects, officials said. The first set includes projects “already funded by existing or expected resources.” The second set identifies proposed projects “for which funding has yet to be identified, but is vital to NJ Transit’s service delivery.”

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